


I've Got You Under My Skin

by unrequitedexistence



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-23
Updated: 2014-06-23
Packaged: 2018-02-05 23:25:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1836031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unrequitedexistence/pseuds/unrequitedexistence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Feel every single inch of my face as if this is the last face you will ever see. You are going blind and this is the last face you will ever get to touch, to learn..." AU. Teacher/Student.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I've Got You Under My Skin

" _I am an excitable person who only understands life lyrically, musically, in whom feelings are much stronger as reason. I am so thirsty for the marvelous that only the marvelous has power over me. Anything I can not transform into something marvelous, I let go. Reality doesn't impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another. No more walls._ "

ANÏS NIN

Regina Mills knew the building like the back of her hand. She had grown accustomed to first due to the classes she had attended and then to the classes she had found herself teaching not even six months after finishing her Master's. She had been approached by the department on her way out of campus after presenting her thesis .

Today, five years later, she was yet again walking down the corridor that lead to the classroom that had become more like a second home than anything else. She opened the door and took in the dark and silent room that would soon be filled with students that inhaled art and exhaled inspiration. Or so she hoped.

The drafting tables were all turned towards the long desk that stood majestically in the middle of the room. Regina dropped her books and her purse over her table before deciding on opening the blinds individually, allowing the light to shine over the memories of a past year that now hung on the walls.

 _Just another year._ That was what she kept telling herself. Year after year, she just kept convincing herself that the current one would be her last. And yet, year after year, she found her contract being renewed. Sometimes the call would come 5 minutes too late and she would almost reach for the bottle of champagne that she had bought the night before her presentation, but then the phone would ring and _that_ celebration meant going to bed early to start planning classes in the morning. Since that day, since _the_ day that was supposed to mean _freedom,_ she hadn't had a second to herself. She was always running from classes to meetings to gallery openings. Perhaps next year she would ignore the phone and just tell herself that she had been let go. _Perhaps._ If only she could be certain that her mother wouldn't appear at her door telling her _the good news_ , contract to be signed in hand. This _prestigious_ job was more about her mother than anything else. She enjoyed it, yes, but she had different plans. She wanted more.

Always too much but never nearly enough. Perhaps this year would be different. Perhaps this year she would find a group of students that could completely take her breath away and make the journey worth it. Last year she had found herself dealing with a class that didn't have enough perseverance to learn the rules. How does one expect to break the rules without knowing them?

She made her way back to her desk once she was done with the windows. She looked at her watch before sitting down, letting her body relax against a chair that had grown familiar to her. She found herself doodling on the cover of the simple black notebook she had bought for the year while she waited for her students to arrive.

The sudden knock made her look up from the faces she had been drawing for the past few minutes. She nodded as a student asked if he could come in. She grabbed the list of names she had been given, standing up and watching closely as her new _companions_ studied their surroundings.

"Welcome to your first class of the semester." Regina announced, a smile playing on her lips as a few sets of unknown eyes turned towards her. "My name is Regina Mills and I am going to be supervising your evolution in terms of drawing and painting." She added, starting to close the door of the classroom as she was almost sure everyone was already inside. _Almost_ , yes.

"Is this the art atelier?"

"Yes, dear. Do feel free to come in. We were about to get started." Regina replied, holding the door slightly open so that the blonde could walk in and join her colleagues.

"Thanks." The blonde's face was curious. There was this blank expression that seemed to be glued to it. Her green eyes were beyond beautiful and clear, but seemed somewhat lost, almost as if they felt they didn't belong. _My feelings, exactly._ Regina found herself sighing at the thought before focusing her attention back on her students.

"As I was saying, my name is Regina Mills and you will be seeing me twice a week." She started again, making her way back to her desk and leaning against it. "Choose your drafting table wisely. It is going to be your best friend for the next couple of months." Regina said, her eyes following the blonde as she chose a table far at the back of the room. Regina couldn't help but smile. That had been her seat. It had the best light. Perhaps this year it was going to be different after all.

"I want you to sit down and draw something as I walk by to study your portfolios. Consider this a diagnosis test." She noticed how some students rolled their eyes, how others smiled, and how others seemed way too unfocused to have heard her request. And then there was the blonde. The way she grabbed her pencil, as if asking for permission to spend its graphite. A hand was carefully ran over a blank page in what seemed to be an apology. _I am sorry for ruining your pureness._ Regina couldn't help but imagine the page smiling back at the blonde woman and thanking her instead. For some reason, Regina was 100% sure that whatever was going to taint the whiteness of that page was going to be more than worth it. _An honor_. She seemed completely oblivious to what was happening around her. As soon as she had reached for the pencil she carefully held in her hand as if afraid to hurt its feelings, she had disconnected from reality.

Regina felt rather jealous of the younger woman. That had been her plan ever since she had walked into campus for the first time. She had left her mother back in Maine and she had wished that to mean _freedom_ , to mean being able to travel and study her mind and put it all on the canvas, on paper. Blacks and whites and reds and other rainbows of thoughts that kept her from sleeping at night. Yes, she still painted back at her flat, but it just wasn't enough. She shook her head slightly before grabbing her pen and her notebook, advancing to the first desk in front of her. _Wish me luck_.

From the back of the room, Emma Swan raised her eyes from the paper as soon as she felt she was no longer being studied from a distance. She had to confess that, even though the professor didn't exactly look like someone whose first priority was art, she did look like a piece of art herself. A sculpture of a goddess. She was wearing a black dress that hugged her body like a second skin. Over it she wore a dark blazer that had small traces of red that matched the color of her full lips. Her dark brown hair was perfectly combed and fell lovingly over her shoulders. Her eyes. Oh, her rich brown eyes. She had only met them for a few seconds but she had instantly felt taken aback by them. They were so extremely observant and alive and kind.

Oh yes, she didn't dress like someone who felt a volcano of colors running in her veins, but she acted as if she felt it reaching the tips of her fingers. She could see that as the older woman gesticulated to a student who stood on the front row, probably trying to explain what she thought was missing. She seemed like a musician, a maestro trying to put together every single note, every single resemblance of a skill. Nothing would ever go to waste and the result would be pure inspiration. Perhaps she hadn't been wrong to leave her friends behind and choose the scholarship.

The other students started abandoning the class as their portfolios were looked at, having as homework the task of improving their least favorite pieces. By the time Regina reached Emma they were the only ones in the room.

"I am sorry this took so long." Regina said softly as she approached her last student, careful not to scare the woman to death as she seemed too focused on whatever she was doing.

Emma looked up from what she was drawing and shrugged slightly, giving Regina her portfolio. "It's okay. It's not like I have anything better to do."

Regina sighed internally but just nodded, opening the portfolio. What she found inside was collection of nudes that almost brought tears to her eyes. She figured they all belonged to the same person. You could see the hands and the thighs and the breasts and a perfectly stretched back. You could almost put it all together and see a face. The way they had been drawn was so raw that it brought goosebumps to Regina's arms. And then, at the end, the very last page of the portfolio, was an unfinished portrait. There was no structure to it. It was a perfect _mess_. It was not that she didn't know how to draw faces, it felt like she simply didn't want to remember how.

Emma raised an eyebrow worryingly as she studied her professor. The other woman had been staring at one drawing for what seemed like an eternity. And she was oh so quiet. "Is everything okay, Professor Mills?"

Regina simply nodded again, closing her eyes for a moment before looking back up. "I have seen my share of portfolios this past 5 years and I must confess yours is one of the greatest I have ever had the pleasure to see." Regina said with a small smile. "Can you tell me what happened here...?" She asked softly.

As she expected, Emma flinched slightly. It was personal. The girl opened her mouth to talk but ended up just shrugging.

"It feels like you have given up at some point..." Regina commented, eyeing her for a moment before reaching for Emma's hands. There was surprise probably because she was not expecting a professor to reach into her personal space. And there was worry, also, perhaps because, for the first time since the professor had approached her, the thing Emma had been working on during class was exposed. But Regina's eyes never left Emma's as she brought the younger woman's hands to her face. Emma tried to pull away but Regina guided them back to place and held them there.

"My fingers... they are black because..." Emma stopped mid-sentence as Regina let out a chuckle.

"Don't worry, dear. I am used to getting dirty." Regina said, her voice low, looking directly into Emma's eyes."Feel it." She started, "Feel every single inch of my face as if this is the last face you will ever see. You are going blind and this is the last face you will ever get to touch, to learn..." Emma's hands were still where Regina had left them. "C'mon, I don't bite. Feel me."

Emma moved her hands slowly and carefully. She was still afraid, Regina could feel it. And so she leaned into the younger woman's touch. As if saying, _I am not afraid_. _Don't be_. _Touch me_. She noticed as a deep breath left the younger woman's lips before she allowed her hands to caress her cheeks. _Finally_. "Close your eyes and let your hands learn the feelings. You can do this."

She could feel her student getting more comfortable. She suddenly realized that the nudes had been painted from a distance. They were raw from the longing and the wanting. She couldn't help but wonder what her young student would come up with if allowed to touch her desired model.

Emma closed her eyes as she was told and allowed her hands to travel across the face of her professor. Her skin was soft and inviting and welcoming. She ran her fingertips down her professor's jaw and chin before bringing them to her full lips. She could almost feel their redness. She felt the other woman part them slightly and allowed her thumb to run down her lower lip. She could picture them perfectly and to be honest, she wouldn't mind drawing them forever. The scar only made them more unique. After what seemed to be hours, Emma opened her eyes and couldn't help but smile softly as her professor stared intently at her.

"I want you to do what you did with the nudes... but instead of body parts, I want you to draw face details. Can you do that?"

"I think so." Emma said as she looked down at her hands for a minute. She would certainly not mind dedicating the next few hours, or even days, to drawing the face she had just gotten to feel. She was sure that hadn't been her professor's intention, but she just couldn't forget what she had just seen, what she had just felt. The textures, even the perfume. The closeness and the charge of the moment. Her fingertips wouldn't want to know anything else for the next couple of days.

"Good. See you in two days time, then?" Regina asked with a hopeful smile. "I hope I didn't scare you with that exercise. It's just that sometimes feeling helps you visualize better."

"Quite the contrary."

"Thank you, Miss Swan." Regina said as she watched her student grabbing her things.

"It's just Emma." She murmured loud enough before leaving the classroom.

Regina's eyes followed her student before coming to rest upon the desk. There it was, the drawing Emma had been working on while waiting for her turn. It was a picture of Regina... of her back, to be more precise. Of the way her hair fell upon her shoulders. She smiled and shook her head softly before grabbing it, deciding on keeping it.

Perhaps this year it was going to be different.

\---

There was a soft knock on the door. For the second time that day Regina found herself looking up from yet another blank page that had invited her imagination for a conversation. Her eyes met her watch and she raised an eyebrow. Why was someone knocking at her door at 4 in the morning? She sighed deeply as she got up from her couch.

"Miss S..." Regina reminded herself of her student's request and cleared her throat slightly. "Emma, what are you doing here...?"

"I just..." Emma started, taking a few steps closer so that her face stood only a few inches away from her professor's. Her hand quickly founds its way back to the Regina's face and she felt the older woman yet again leaning into her touch. "I couldn't exactly..." She carried on, her lips now brushing softly against her professor's. Her hand found its way down the older woman's arm before meeting Regina's and lacing their fingers together. "Feel..." She whispered before pecking her. "How red they were." Emma finished half breathlessly, pulling back a little to look into her professor's eyes.

Regina brought their intertwined hands to her lips and placed a soft kiss there before pulling Emma inside. "Come in... I will show you."

Regina let go of Emma's hand as soon as they were both inside, turning slightly so that she could close the door. Once her eyes met Emma's again, she found herself staring into a green pool of insecurity and self-doubt. With both her hands awkwardly hidden in the back pockets of her jeans, Emma looked like she had just awoken from what she thought was a dream. Regina could almost hear the debate going on in Emma's mind. _What am I doing here? Did I really come bother a professor at 4 in the morning? At home? What was I thinking? She was not supposed to answer the door._

"Would you like something to drink?" Regina felt the need to put a stop to what would probably end up causing Emma a migraine, giving the girl a reason to run away in embarrassment and to never set a foot in one of her classes again.

Emma shrugged for the millionth time that day and Regina couldn't help but smile at the same time as she rolled her eyes playfully.

"Use your words, dear. They are a whole new palette of colors for you to use. Trust me, you will be surprised with what they might bring you."

"Is that so?" Emma asked, curiosity biting the tip of her tongue as she raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed. You have no idea of what you could get if only you asked for it." Regina answered, her eyes never leaving Emma's now challenging ones.

"I shall keep that in mind." Emma said with a courteous nod.

"Wine?" Regina then asked as she started making her way to the kitchen.

"Red, please." Emma replied as she sat on the couch, finding herself looking at Regina's work. The first few pages were all faces. They were beyond amazing and there was something about the way Regina drew and shaded the eyes. It was if she could actually see through them. She wondered how Regina had gotten so good at this.

Emma was no idiot, she knew she had some raw talent, but Regina? It was like her blood was graphite and she just bled over a canvas and it all came together. That had to be it. How else would she be able to explain all the emotion conveyed on and by those portraits? It all seemed so personal, so firsthand experience. Had Regina taken the time to study their faces in the same way she had allowed Emma to study hers? All those faces? It sounded impossible. And yet, if she didn't know better, she would say that each and every single of one of them was/had been one of Regina's lovers/loved ones.

There was love in the trace. And there was passion too. They also seemed to exude sexuality, like an invitation. The pictures seemed to be screaming for her to look at them, to look closer, to _see_ them, to reach out and touch them. They seemed to want to be learned and spoken about. Those drawings were alive. And Emma had this crazy feeling that, no matter what happened to the people who were now staring at her from the different pieces of paper, they would end up living forever, as long as someone stayed in touch with Regina's drawings. It was if Regina had captured a breath inside of them. It was magical.

"Just in case you're wondering, I don't spend my days feeling other people's faces." Regina said as she sat by Emma's side, giving the younger woman a glass of red wine as she had requested. "Not physically, at least." She added as she took the glass to her lips, taking a small sip of wine before smiling at Emma.

"Where do you find them?" Emma asked, accepting the glass of wine and focusing her attention on her professor instead of on the drawings that stood in front of her.

"Usually at the cafeteria." Regina replied with a small shrug. "Around lunch."

"I guess what we eat really does say a lot about who we are." Emma chucked but raised an eyebrow as she noticed how Regina's eyes seemed to drift away for a moment.

"Not exactly what we eat, but the way we eat it." Regina started. "I usually find myself watching those who are by themselves. They are the ones who think nobody is watching them. Why would someone be watching them, right? No one cares. No one _should_ care. They are not expecting company, they are not expecting _anything._ And what you do when you think no one is watching is truly who you are. It tells me a lot more about you than anything you could possibly decide to share about yourself. There is not mediator, you see? There is no one tampering with the message." Regina couldn't help but laugh at what she had just said. "That sounded extremely sinister, didn't it?"

"Just slightly." Emma said softly, waiting for the teacher to continue.

"That was actually why I didn't think twice before reaching out for your hands." Regina confessed. "From the moment you walked through the door I knew there was something about you." She smiled at the memory as if had happened months ago and not just a few hours before. "The way you walked to your drafting table. You walked towards it as if you were alone in the room. Truth to be told, no one seemed to care about whatever you were doing. That was what caught my eye in the first place. And then you chose _my_ table and..." She sighed. "And the way you held your pencil and caressed the blank page..." She smiled yet again. "So much respect and honor in your actions." She continued. "And then I looked at your portfolio and that was it." She shrugged.

"What am I missing...?"

"Who said you were missing anything...?"

Emma rolled her eyes and went back to studying Regina's drawings.

"These do."

Regina moved closer to Emma, their knees brushing together as the older woman leaned over for a moment so that she could see the ones Emma was talking about.

"And don't go all I-have-more-life-experience than you because you're only like 7 years older than me or..." She stopped mid-sentence as she reached the last three drawings that had been covered by the other faces. _Hands_. And not just random _hands._ "Are these... mine?"

Regina nodded.

"How did you..."

"I am far from knowing your hands by heart." Regina started. "Sadly, I must add. You have beautiful hands." That could mean so many things but Regina decided to leave it at that. "This, darling, is what happens when you try to learn someone else." Regina's voice tone went playful for a moment before reaching seriousness again. "Once you allowed your hands to feel my face, to learn every single line and texture, you had to open up. You know how they say that we see in others reflections of ourselves?" Regina's eyes were shining brightly, as if she was about to share the greatest secret of all times. "This is _it_. This is _the_ secret. To learn others you have to meet and deal with yourself first. And it's not the _self_ you pretend to be when with others, it's about the one who's facing the ceiling at night while trying to fall asleep. That's you, in the dark, all by yourself. The fact that you carry on breathing means that you are willing to give yourself a shot. But then you must go all in... you must deal with yourself before letting yourself try to deal with others. You must fall in love with who you are. Not get obsessed. You have to fall in love. And that means that you need to learn to love every single imperfection you are made of. And instead of covering it up, you must wear it with pride. And once you do, you will be so open to everything and everyone that you will feel the textures with just your eyes. And you will be able to smell the skin of someone far away by only closing your eyes and imagining resting your nose against that person's neck."

"I feel like kissing you just for the sake of it." Emma said after a few minutes of silence, her eyes still resting on the drawings of her hands.

Regina reached out, a hand carefully and softly lifting Emma's chin and turning her face slightly so that Regina could look into Emma's eyes. "Never do anything just for the sake of it." Regina said as she brought the younger woman's face close to hers. "Don't fear the intensity of a moment." She nuzzled Emma's neck before bringing her lips closer to her ear. "You will never get a chance at it again." She whispered, placing a gentle kiss there before pulling back slightly, finding the younger woman staring at her, her mouth agape. "So make the best of it." She murmured. "Don't waste it thinking whether it is right or wrong."

Regina then pressed her lips against Emma's. Once. And twice. And thrice. Until the younger woman turned fully to her and brought a hand to the back of Regina's neck, pulling her closer.

Mouths open and tongues meet. At first it's slow, like two strangers approaching each other to start dancing. A hand is put out and a bow is the reassuring yes. The first steps are measured to avoid stepping in each other's toes. But then the rhythm of the music starts following the pace of their hearts. And that's when magic happens. The world outside is nothing but a secret being kissed to the ear of someone who has long ago lost the ability to hear. And so the others senses are amplified and you just cannot stop wanting to reach further, to feel further.

"Please, tell me that not every single teacher is like you." Emma whispers against Regina's lips as she tries to catch her breath.

Regina chuckles. "Wait and see?"

"I want to see _you_. _All_ of you."

The words came out of Emma's mouth like a confession. The innocence of the half-whispered statement was overwhelming. This wasn't a child asking for a toy just for the sake of having one more, just for the sake of having a _new_ and _expensive_ one. No, this was a woman letting her desires take over her tongue.

Regina wasn't sure whether Emma had meant for her to hear what she had just said. The younger woman was resting her forehead against hers, her eyes closed, her lips still parted. Regina couldn't help but wonder what was crossing Emma's mind. It seemed like she had gone to one of her little places where no one else existed, where all the air available was just hers to take in and to let out.

Regina understood the need for silence, the need for loneliness, but from what she had seen of Emma's portfolio, the younger woman had never met anything else, had never truly seen what the opposite of loneliness, what the opposite of silence, felt like. How could she learn to truly appreciate them? If only she knew she had a choice...

Emma seemed to be the kind of person who was always there for everyone, who was always _expected_ to be there and never to disappoint. _Expectations_. Now that was something Regina knew a lot about. They were the reason why Regina had met Emma in the first place. If she hadn't stayed at the university, teaching, just like her mother had said would make _her_ happy, she would never had met this extraordinary human being that stood now in front of her, completely obvious of her magnificence.

Regina understood the fear of disappointment, the irrational fear of losing the people who had never been there for her in the first place. Making other people happy seemed to be much easier than finding your own path to happiness. After a while, you start confusing the smiles on other people's faces with your own. That is, until pain strikes. That's when you retreat so that you don't hurt the people that deep inside you know would turn their backs on you if you approached them with your own issues. Then you find yourself sitting there, crying your eyes out in the darkness that has long ago become your _only_ friend. You are about to acknowledge the fact that you are completely alone when the phone rings. They _need_ you. And you don't think twice, you get up, you wipe your tears away, and you go give a hand to those who walked over you when you most needed them.

That was surely one of the reasons behind the longing in Emma's drawings. It was so palpable... you could almost feel it reaching out and wrapping its cold hands around your neck, making it hard to breathe. _Did it ever let go of yours?_ Regina wondered, one of her hands coming to find the soft skin of Emma's neck, starting to trace soothing circles there.

Regina started to second guess herself. Was she the right person to bring the young woman back to the world of the living? But how could she not? How could she abandon the young girl to live in the world of dreams? She deserved to feel wanted and needed and _enough._ That was it, the need to always be there, Emma didn't feel _enough_. Regina sighed deeply, closing her own eyes momentarily. Was she ready to deal with this woman? Was she ready to let her in? She had been the blonde a few years back, she had been the girl who walked to the last and abandoned drafting table by the window. Had she ever left, she wondered... had she ever taken a real step forward?

"You don't even know me." Regina murmured, letting out a breath she hadn't been aware she had been holding. She felt Emma's hand touch her own, their fingers instantly tangling themselves, as if that had always been their reality.

"Then why do I feel like I know you better than I know myself?" Emma opened her eyes again and found Regina's brown ones waiting, expectantly. She felt slightly taken aback as she explored the darkness of Regina's eyes. Going against all the rules of nature, the darkness in Regina felt warm instead of cold. There was understanding and concern instead of the ordinary disgust she had gotten so used to recognize.

Emma couldn't help but smile. Regina, a woman she had met less than 24 hours ago, _understood_ her... _cared_ for her. Little did she know that that impeccable smile had been what Regina had been waiting for to make a decision. The older woman stood up and offered Emma a hand.

Emma raised an eyebrow, taking in the sight of Regina. The older woman was wearing a cotton sleepshirt, white and grey stripes, that ended slightly above her knees. Her long and toned legs seemed to never end even though she was barefoot, her toe nails black as night. There was no make-up on her face and her hair was still falling perfectly over her shoulders. She noticed the tattoo on the inside of the wrist of the extended arm. She reached for it, pulling Regina slightly closer as she ran her fingertips over the feather that seemed to have kissed Regina's skin and fallen in love, deciding on never abandoning her. She looked up at Regina and she found in the older woman's eyes all the confidence she needed. She took her hand.

"You haven't been paying attention, dear." Regina started as she guided Emma to her bedroom. "You have to learn to love yourself first." She opened the door and walked into the dark room, not letting go of Emma's hand this time, not even to close the door behind them. "And don't go all I-love-myself-you-just-don't-see-it because I have seen your drawings." She led Emma to the right side of her bed.

"This is not pity." She said as she removed Emma's leather jacket. "What you see in my eyes, it's not pity." She continued as she got rid of the tank top Emma was wearing underneath. "You might confuse it to be such thing for that is what you feel for yourself." She undid Emma's jeans. "But that is not what I _feel for you_." Regina reassured her as she helped Emma to step out of her jeans after taking her shoes off. "I want _you._ " She allowed her hands to touch the skin of Emma's back, making the younger woman flinch under her touch. "I crave you." She murmured against Emma's lips as she unclasped her bra. "I am going to teach you the meaning of pleasure, okay? I want you to keep your eyes on me all the way through. Don't close them. Fight the need for darkness. Let the world spin and just simply enjoy the ride, okay?" She said as she laid Emma on her bed, straddling her.

"This is about you." Regina stopped Emma's hand from reaching for her sleepshirt, bringing them to rest on her hips instead.

"I want you to feel the blood rushing through veins." Regina said as she placed a soft kiss upon the place where Emma's neck met her shoulder. "I want you to feel your heart starting to beat faster and faster." She continued before putting her tongue out to taste the white skin, biting and gentle sucking it before kissing it and licking her way up to Emma's ear. "I want you to feel your own pupils dilating." She whispered, pulling on her ear slightly and smiling victoriously as she felt Emma's hips buckling against hers. "Now I want you to say hello to lust."

Regina kissed Emma's lips and smirked at the look on the blonde's face. "This is how it feels. It's better than from a distance, don't you think?" She sat up slightly and allowed one of her fingers to learn the path that went from Emma's jaw to her bellybutton. "But far more complicated for from a distance there's a reason for you not being able to touch, but now you are so close and yet you can't seem to be able to reach it, right? You are so close you can feel my breath on your lips and you just want to do something about it, don't you?" Emma started to raise her hand but Regina stopped her again. "But I am not going to let you. Because I want you to feel this. Feel it deeply. In your core. Wanting and not having. Wanting but not being able to have it. I want you to memorize this feeling and make it travel to your fingertips so that next time you paint a portrait of someone's breasts, I want you to draw their nipples erect from your wanting, the longing of the painter, not of their owner." Regina smiled wickedly and Emma registered this new shade of the woman. "I want you to be the one smirking on the other end for feeling what the other wants you to make them feel."

"Just like you are at the moment?" Emma asked, fighting to make words come out of her mouth coherently. It was not just what Regina was doing to her, the way she was touching her as if getting to know her body like the back of her hand was Regina's last mission on Earth. No, it wasn't just that, it was also the voice... she could feel Regina's words caressing her skin, going down her torso, her abdomen.

"Yes. Exactly like that." Regina's lips travelled from Emma's lips to the vale between the blonde's breasts. "See how good it feels? See how good you can make someone feel? See how good you can make yourself feel?"

Emma was about to say something, or so she thought, but her words were stolen away by Regina's mouth on her nipples. Emma had to bite hard on her lower lip to fight the desire to just close her eyes and ignore the world outside to simply focus on that feeling. Instead, pleasure met pain and their embrace took Emma's breath away. She found herself letting out a breathless moan that had been tickling her throat. She could feel the blush on her face. She had never felt this alive in her whole life. The adrenalin was making her senses feel with such intensity. She couldn't put it into words...

_Touch me_

_like you have been blind_

_since the moment you were born_

_and I am your guiding light_

_after a dream of_

_a new world oh so dark._

She could feel Regina's lips on the inside of her thighs. Emma's hands were now resting upon Regina's shoulders, her nails digging holes into the older woman's flesh. Regina moaned. Suddenly Emma started feeling very aware of her body, of her existence. She felt so small but she felt like she could reach so high, if only she wanted to.

_Hold me_

_like you have been_

_lost in the sea for days_

_and I am your shore_

_after a collision_

_against an iceberg oh so cold._

"You don't need anyone to make you feel great. You are beautiful. You are more than enough just being yourself. Learn that, feel that, and you will become so big of a star that the floor will stop keeping you company. Instead, you will have the moon and the sun." Whispered Regina as she placed a soft kiss against Emma's core.

_Kiss me_

_like you have had_

_nothing to drink for days_

_and I am your water_

_after a walk through_

_the desert oh so dry._

"Aren't you afraid I will get better than you?"

"We can't compare talents, Emma. It would be like saying you _feel_ better than me. And that doesn't make sense." Regina found herself smiling at the question and decided on letting her fingertips tantalize the other woman's core while studying Emma's face. "Words are conventions. People know their meaning and yet writers seem to put so much feeling into the words that we feel it ourselves. But painting and drawing... god, sometimes we don't even show them familiar traces... sometimes all we do is put clouds of paint together. And yet, somehow, that unique arrangement reaches out and touches our humanity in such a way..." Regina increased the pace of her fingertips, feeling Emma was close as her hips started moving with her and Emma's breathing went completely hectic.

"You might feel like you are worth nothing, but if you ever find someone staring at your paintings, at your drawings, so unaware that the world is moving on while hers stops to acknowledge that someone else, someone out there, understands what her blood screams from the inside of her veins... that's when you feel like you were born... to do this."

_Take me_

_like you have been longing for me_

_since your very first breath_

_and I am the air that fills your lungs_

_after a run through_

_the city oh so quiet._

Emma's arches her back as her heart skips a beat, a wave of pleasure crushing against her naked and now sweaty self. She feels the eternity and sees the infinity. If given the opportunity, she could paint the portrait of the universe without missing a dying star. And that feeling is beyond glorious.

"How..."

"Shhhh." Regina leaned over to place a kiss upon Emma's swollen lips. "Now close your eyes." She said as she let a hand caress Emma's sides, making the young woman sigh softly.

_Love me_

_like you haven't been anything_

_before we were something_

_and I am the sun_

_after the long storm_

_oh so lonely._

"You are beautiful. Don't you dare to ever forget that." Regina whispered as she felt the breath of the young woman fall into a rhythm.


End file.
